Where Can You Live In An RV? State Laws 2025

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Last Updated on October 7, 2024 by Paul Clayton

Where Can You Live In An RV? State Laws

If you try to figure out whether or not it’s legal to live in an RV in your backyard or on someone else’s property, you’ll run into the same consideration everywhere:

You’ll be told to “check the zoning laws.”

Key Takeaways:

- Zoning Laws and RV Living: The legality of living in an RV full-time largely depends on local zoning laws, which vary by state, county, and city. It’s generally permitted to park an RV on your property but not to live in it permanently unless it’s classified as an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) or in RV parks.
- State Regulations: Most states prohibit using RVs as permanent dwellings outside designated zones such as RV parks or campgrounds. However, some states and areas, particularly the Midwest, may have fewer zoning restrictions.
- Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Option: Some states, like California, allow RVs to be used as ADUs, but strict requirements apply. This can include factors like lot size, utility metering, and whether the RV can be moved.
- Homeowners Associations (HOAs): Besides state and county laws, HOAs often have rules that may further restrict living in RVs on private property.
- Alternatives for RV Living: RV parks, campgrounds, or unincorporated land offer alternatives for living in an RV. States like Texas, Florida, and South Dakota are more RV-friendly due to minimal zoning restrictions and favorable tax conditions.

Permanent RV Domicile Considerations: Domiciling in an RV requires consideration of state residency laws, zoning, and costs like building permits. Maintaining good relationships with neighbors is essential, as enforcement may depend on complaints.

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Each state, county, and city has regulations and rules on what structures you can live in. It’s generally fine to park an RV on your land. Living out of it is usually another entirely different matter.

You’ll have a few different options for permanent RV living.

A place to park a recreational vehicle permanently. In this case, your RV is registered with the state as a “recreational vehicle.”
A place for your RV where it is considered an “accessory dwelling unit.” In this case, your RV is registered with the city and county as an accessory dwelling unit, not a recreational vehicle.
Finally, the traditional route is parking in mobile home parks and campgrounds. Let’s look at this option to have all the bases covered!

The first two options are the focus because both might allow you to park your RV in your or your friend’s backyard, live there permanently, or rent the space out. Let’s look at both options and see how state-by-state cases will affect you. States generally have laws that allow counties and cities to make final decisions, so you’ll probably have to check those more carefully.

Alternatively, we’ll compare the permanent recreational vehicle in the backyard and ADU setups to a more traditional RV camping and moving. You’ll need to weigh your options, costs, and considerations to decide the best move for your situation.

RV’s as Permanent Dwellings

The general answer to the RV as a permanent dwelling question is a “soft no.” Usually, you won’t technically be allowed to live permanently out of your RV on your or a friend’s property, and you probably won’t be able to rent it out to others.

It will matter what type of “backyard” you’re talking about. As a rule, some states will be friendlier toward the idea than others. As you’ll see, there are also some exceptions and loopholes. You might get some wiggle room here if you own the property, hold building permits, live outside of zones, or have an incredibly generous homeowners association.

So, for the most part, you can’t stick an RV on your property and have people live in it permanently. But here are some considerations that might get you around that “soft no.”

State Laws Against Recreational Vehicle “Use as a dwelling”

RV’s aren’t generally considered permanent dwellings by the federal government. They can be used for travel, camping, and “recreation,” but usually not permanent housing. Using recreational vehicles as permanent dwellings is generally prohibited except in certain specially designated properties and zones.

Most states and counties have restrictions against using a recreational vehicle as a dwelling within certain zones. You might be subject to legal action if there’s any indication that the recreational vehicle is being used as a permanent dwelling. Some land, like parks and campgrounds, is zoned explicitly for recreational vehicle dwelling.

Figure Out The Zoning Laws

This will be the lynchpin in setting up that permanent residence RV. State and county laws against using an RV as a permanent dwelling only apply within certain government-regulated zones. Zoning laws vary not just by state but also by city and specific plot of land.

Check for a city handbook with recreational vehicle laws and zoning laws. It will tell you where you can park your recreation vehicles and give specific rules on what counts as a permanent dwelling.
Call the city zoning office to check on your particular property. It might be outside the zoning laws that prevent recreational vehicles from being used as permanent living arrangements.
http://www.city-data.com is also a great resource. It has answers to questions about RVs that other people have already answered.

When in doubt, ask! It can’t hurt to make a couple of phone calls to city offices to get some leads on parking your RV. If you explain what you want to do to the clerks, they may even help you figure out where to go!

The Spread of Zoning

In a sense, permanent RV living is becoming more difficult to attain in cities because unincorporated land is becoming smaller and smaller nationwide. Local zoning is becoming more widespread, and larger portions of land will continue to be regulated.

On unincorporated land or land without local zoning, there are still state and county laws that will apply to RV living. Just because you’ve fallen outside of posted zoning laws doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still check with your county office.

Some places in the Midwest still have significantly fewer zoning laws. Setting up in San Diego or San Francisco might not work, but moving to mid-America offers more freedom with permanent RV living. For instance, Pulaski County in Kentucky still has no zoning laws!

Homeowners Associations

In addition to the state, county, and city laws in play, there are also homeowner associations and property owner associations with rules about how you can and can’t use your property. So, even if you aren’t violating state, county, and city laws, you might still be unable to live in your RV.

Get Land out in the Country!

If moving is an option, you might be able to purchase some land in the country, outside zoning laws, to set up shop for your RV. Alternatively, find people who live outside of zoning laws. If you get a map of the zoning laws for your state or county, you might be able to find some connections with people who would charge only minimal rent for you to live in your RV out of their way and sight.

Intent to do Something Else

Many states and cities have laws that say you can live in your RV on your property if you are building a house, restoring a home, or doing other construction projects. Most of these laws restrict how you are allowed to do this for–usually six months to a year. While not the permanent solution you might be hoping for, it does buy you some time while you try to figure out zoning and homeowners’ regulations or even qualify your RV as an ADU somewhere else.

Check your county and city laws on intent to do something else and the temporary dwelling requirements for RVs.

Getting a Building Permit

If you have land that doesn’t have anything on it, you can try to get a building permit, qualifying you to live in an RV while the permanent residence is being built. If you have no intention to build, you can get extensions on the permit. It’s not illegal, but it is a bit shifty!

The national average for a building permit is $1,000, which isn’t cheap but does allow the peace of mind to live legally in your RV on your property. Some cities will be extremely restrictive on building permits or might even be willing to take you to court to acquire a permit without building, so be careful with this! Always check with your city office and ask how strict the building permit laws are.

The Loophole: The RV as an “Accessory Dwelling Unit”

While you might not be able to live in an RV on your property, you might be able to put an RV on your property and rent it out to others. Zoning laws might prohibit permanent dwelling in a recreational vehicle, but they might allow the creation of accessory dwelling units. An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is a secondary housing structure on a primary lot that can be rented out.

California code defines the ADU as “an attached or a detached residential dwelling unit that provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons. It shall include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation on the same parcel as the single-family dwelling is situated” (65852.2. (a) (1)). As long as the RV allows living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation and is situated on the same land as the permanent residence, it should be able to count as an ADU.

California law doesn’t say anything specifically prohibiting RVs from being ADUs, but it gets complicated quickly. RV’s, in some cases, might be considered ADUs, depending on such considerations as:

Is the lot big enough for an ADU?
Is it less than 1,200 feet?
Does it need separate utility metering?
Is it taking up more than one parking space? (no. California ADU law states that an ADU can’t require more than one parking space, which gets complicated when the ADU is an RV that is parked).

California state law allows cities and counties to grant ordinances for “accessory dwelling units” in residential areas for single-family or multifamily use. If you have a property with a house, you might be able to build or set up an RV as an accessory dwelling unit, which can’t be sold but can be rented out.

While we’re using California as an example, it’s important to know that most state ADU laws will give themselves a lot of runway for making case-by-case decisions. California’s law includes the clause: “A local agency may establish minimum and maximum unit size requirements for both attached and detached accessory dwelling units” (65852.2. (a) (1)). This allows individual counties and cities in California to raise the minimum size beyond the typical RV to prevent RVs from counting as ADUs if they want.

Norwalk, Connecticut, has done something similar by establishing the minimum size of an ADU at 400 square feet—which is also the maximum size of an RV per national law. Without making it explicit, they’ve prevented RVs from being ADUs.

Some counties will also have specified regulations that RV’s cannot count as ADUs, wheels, or no wheels. The San Diego, CA county states that RV’s and park model trailers “shall not be used as an Accessory Dwelling Unit.”

In general, assume the vagueness of most government regulations involving ADUs was intentional so they can make a case-by-case exception. With the right people skills and connections, you might be able to slide your RV in as an ADU!

Moving Might be a Problem

The ability to move might prohibit your RV from being an ADU, so you might have to show that the RV isn’t able to move, is going to move, or won’t be used to move around. You can’t park an RV for a few months at a house and call it an ADU. Sometimes, you might need a permanent foundation. You can’t live out of a “recreational vehicle” on the residentially zoned property, so you must ensure your RV isn’t used as a recreational vehicle.

Oregon’s building laws, for example, prohibit any structure on wheels from counting as a permanent dwelling or ADU. Washington also won’t let anything with wheels be an ADU.

Don’t take the wheels off too quickly. Some places make it easier for you to set up shop in a tiny house once registered as a recreational vehicle (though this won’t solve the problem of parking in a backyard). Some counties in California and Massachusetts place fewer restrictions on RVs than on other tiny dwellings!

State ADU Laws

States don’t generally provide too much direction for ADUs, but they do set some standards for counties and cities to follow. The bulk of ADU legislation is happening at the city level and is happening fast. Many updates to ADU legislation have been made over the last five years. California and Vermont allow local governments to permit ADUs under certain conditions. In other states, ADUs are actively encouraged. There’s a helpful list of state and county ADU laws that you can access here.

Chicago, Illinois, is currently not allowing new ADUs to go up, so RV or not, you’re out of luck.

Minneapolis has inserted a seemingly clever way of heading off RVs as ADUs, saying in their code that “the primary exterior materials of the detached accessory structure shall be durable, including but not limited to masonry, brick, stone, wood, cement-based siding, or glass.” RVs usually aren’t constructed from wood or stone but from lighter materials that are more suited to travel.

Oregon recently considered relaxing ADU and RV laws, allowing both on land zoned for rural residential (different from single-family or multi-family) and agriculture.

Portland currently won’t allow you to use “anything with wheels” as a permanent housing structure, so RV’s definitely won’t count as ADUs there (of course, again, it’s more complicated if you take the wheels off!).

Unsurprisingly, crowded New York City won’t allow ADUs at all.
The city of Bozeman in Montana has a colorful pdf about ADUs but does not mention wheels or RVs.

Many places won’t mention whether RVs will count as ADUs, leaving themselves free to decide on a case-by-case basis. Always check the state and county websites for the most updated information because tiny housing is a hot topic, and many local and state governments are revising and passing new legislation.

Homeowners Associations

Like recreational vehicle laws, many homeowners associations also have additional regulations about the maintenance and renting of ADUs. Even if state, city, and county ordinances all greenlight your RV as an ADU situation, you still might violate homeowner laws!

You can either accept these rules or petition the association to make an exception in your case. You might be able to gain leeway if you’re attempting to rent the ADU to a family member.

Alternatives to Parking RV or ADU on Property

Mobile home parks and campgrounds allow you to live in your RV on a different property. A few different types of land are specifically zoned for RV living.

Vacation parks often have rules and restrictions on how often you can stay and how many days in a row you can be there to keep a certain standard of living.
Residential parks are designed for you to live full-time.
Campgrounds that have extended stays.
I am driving Around! Stay in parking lots, on streets, and under the stars.
Some RV parks will allow you to live there for a cost.

Whichever you choose, take advantage of the fact that RVs have wheels and can move from location to location.

Some States are Friendly, Some Aren’t!

Texas, Florida, and South Dakota are all friendly to RV living. You might still be unable to get the zoning laws you want, but there is no income tax, and it’s relatively easy to get domicile status.

Several Colorado counties have recently made some waves by passing tiny house-friendly laws. Such laws may also allow greater access to permanent RV living.

Nevada has many open spaces, but vehicle registration is expensive —around $2,000 for an RV.

Going for Domicile Status

When considering becoming a permanent RV resident, remember that domicile and residency status differ. Residency is where you live–you can have a few different residences. Domicile is your intended permanent location and is based on your state. It affects your legal paperwork and taxes. Try to domicile in a state without an income tax if you can.

Other Considerations

You have three primary ways of permanently dwelling in your RV. Suppose you’re headed to your backyard or your neighbor’s backyard. In that case, you can either try to get the RV considered an ADU or attempt to legally live in the RV permanently on their property with the RV considered a “recreational vehicle.” Of course, you can always keep it moving and stay in RV parks and campsites. Here are some considerations when picking your option:

Cost

ADUs and permanent RV dwellings will have different costs and fees. Different cities and counties will require different certifications for your ADU or RV, which you should familiarize yourself with before deciding your options. Building permits and land can be expensive. Renting at parks might cost you more in the long run! ADUs require a lot of inspection and certification to be eligible. If you’re trying to set up your RV as an ADU on your friend’s property, you may have to help them with the fees and permit process.

Your Long Game

Going for ADU might require removing the wheels from your RV, which won’t let you move! Buying land and building permits can be expensive, preventing you from moving. If you have the RV to travel, the ADU might not be your best option, but if it’s primarily for housing and living, the ADU might be just fine!

Your Neighbors and Your City

Ultimately, residency in a mobile home will determine who cares and who makes phone calls. Laws about zoning and ADUs don’t count for much unless there are people to enforce them. If your neighbors are chill and your city officials aren’t running out of their way to move RVs, you might be good even slightly bending the rules.

Conclusion: Check, Double-Check!

RV’s allow freedom of movement! While finding a permanent residence in an RV is tricky, you can always move. The national opinion is certainly swinging toward smaller, more affordable housing, so expect RV residencies and RVs as ADUs to become even more commonplace in the coming years.

Remember, every state, county, and city official is different! When in doubt, make the phone call to check. Also, remember that most states are revising and changing legislation on recreational vehicles, ADUs, and small housing. It is a national issue, and cities are revising their stances to make housing more affordable while maintaining certain standards.

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